1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modular utility cart and, more particularly, to such a cart that is easy to manufacture, assemble, and use. While the present invention will be described in with specific reference to a medical utility cart usable in hospitals, doctors offices, and the like, it is to be understood that the teachings of this application, and the claims appended hereto, pertain to a modular utility cart that can be used for any purpose.
The field of carts is rather well-developed with various examples being used in medical, retail, manufacturing, and other environments. Generally, a cart comprises four sides and a top, and may be movable. However, most known carts consist of a large number of independent structures that must be welded, bolted, or connected together in some other way. Thus, manufacturing and assembling known carts requires a great number of steps that can be expensive and time consuming.
A further drawback to known carts is that they often require extensive modification for particular applications. That is, each cart user is required to modify his or her cart in order to adapt it to his or her particular requirements.
The above-described problems are particularly disadvantageous in the medical field where carts are required to hold a wide range of medical equipment and accessories such as electrical components, surgical tape dispensers, waste containers, and the like. Furthermore, medical carts should be light-weight, easy to maintain, and adaptable to fit a wide variety of uses such as in the emergency rooms, operating theaters, and patient rooms.
Therefore, what is needed is an inexpensive, easy-to-assemble, light-weight cart which can be readily adapted to a wide variety of applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Carts used in the medical field are well known. One consists of a design originally made for storing tools and is formed of sheet metal. This example has a fixed number of standard-sized drawers, generally of only one configuration, and a fixed top of standard height. Because of the design and materials used in its construction, this known cart cannot be easily adapted to specific applications, is heavy, and, therefore, is cumbersome to use.
InterMetro Industries Corporation, assignee of the subject invention, also offers a Medical Emergency Crash Cart that is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,610 and in pending U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 243,212. This design represented a substantial improvement over known carts in the art. However it was specifically conceived as a crash cart, that is, one equipped for medical emergencies. Therefore, its adaptability to other applications is somewhat limited. Accordingly, through extensive study the inventors of the present invention recognized that further improvement was still possible.